500,000-square-foot office tower is slated for completion in early 2021

The developer behind a Brooklyn downtown office project has landed a $235 million construction loan from a large Canadian real-estate lender.

JEMB Realty Corp. secured the loan from Otéra Capital, one of Canada’s largest real-estate debt providers, marking a milestone for One Willoughby Square, a 500,000-square-foot office tower, according to JEMB. Initially JEMB had planned a mixed-use residential building at the site, but switched course and announced the office development in 2015, as Brooklyn’s residential boom was in...